Fans of iCarly alum Jennette McCurdy might already be familiar with her relationship with her mother, especially after the release of her provocatively titled memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, in 2022.
The memoir, released after McCurdy retired from acting to focus on writing and editing, delves deeply into the Nickelodeon star’s childhood, exposing the trauma and dysfunction she experienced at the hands of her now-deceased mother, Debra McCurdy.
Although McCurdy’s father is not the primary focus of the memoir, he does appear in I’m Glad My Mom Died, and his identity was once a mystery to even the actress herself.
Who is Jennette McCurdy’s dad?
For most of her childhood, McCurdy was raised by Mark McCurdy, whom she believed to be her biological father. Like with her mother, McCurdy’s relationship with Mark was strained. She described his dysfunctional parenting style in the memoir and told BuzzFeed that she didn’t “have much respect for [Mark’s] approach” to fatherhood.
Despite their tumultuous relationship, Mark remained a figure in McCurdy’s life. However, following Debra’s death from cancer, McCurdy discovered that Mark was not her biological father. She learned this shocking truth during a conversation with Mark. Although she initially tried to maintain a relationship with him afterward, McCurdy eventually accepted that there was “no connection” and let the relationship “dissolve,” as she explained on The Drew Barrymore Show.
After uncovering this revelation, McCurdy set out to find her biological father, whom she believed to be a local jazz musician and one of the men Debra had an affair with during her marriage to Mark. While the identity of her biological father has never been officially confirmed, there are theories suggesting his name might be Andy Martin. McCurdy maintained a relationship with her biological father for about five months, but it ultimately dissolved as well.
“It got to a place where that one felt a little strange also,” McCurdy told Barrymore. There haven’t been any recent updates on McCurdy’s relationship with her father, but she did sign a two-book, seven-figure deal with Penguin Random House in 2024. Perhaps more details will emerge once those memoirs are published.
